St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1887-07-21
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
a Discourse FuA of Comfort to
the Afflicted and Distressed.
A Sprlg of Heart's-Ease for the Wounded
Spirit-Christ the Comforter, the
Ever-Present Help in Time of
Trouble and Distress.

Trouble and Distress.
Rev. 7. De Witt Talmage, in a recent
sermon at the Brooklyn Tabernacle, ad-
dressed his words more particularly to
those on whom the hand of sorrow and
affection had been heavily laid, taking for
his text:
And his discipi es went and told jesus
Matthew, xiv, IL.
An outrageous assassination had just
taken place. To appease revengeful
woman King Herod ordered the death OF
that noble, self-sacrificing Christian, John
the Baptist The group of the disciples
was throw into grief and dismay. They
felt themselves utterly defenseless. There
was no authority to which they could ap-
peal, and yeS grief must always find eX-
pres sion II there be no human ear to
hear it, thep the agonized soul will cry it
aloud to tho winds, and the woods, and
the waters. But there was an ear that
was willing to listen. There is tender
pathos, and at the same time most ad-
mirable picture, in the words OF my text:
They went and told Jesus
He could understand all their grief, and
he Immediately soothed it. Our burdens
are not more than half so heavy to carry
IL duUGItST - I'LL USU euC ob1iSl Cho
Of them. Here we find Christ, his brow
Swallowed with grief, standing amid the
group of disciples, who, with tears and
violent gesticuiations, and wringing Of
hands, and outcry of bereavement, are
expressing their woe Raphael, with his
skillful brush putting upon the wall of
palace some scene OF sacred story,
gave not SO skillfui a stroke as when the
plain hand Of the evangelist writes:
They went and told Jesus
I feel that bring to you most appro-
pirate message. mean to bind up all
your griefs into bundle, and set them on
fire with spark from Gods altar. The
same prescription that cured the sorrows
of the disciples will cure all your heart
aches. l have read that when Godfrey
and his army marched out to capture Je-
rusalem, as they came over the hills, at
the first flash of the pinnacles Of that
beautiful city, the army that had marched
in silence lifted q shout that made the
earth trembie.
o, you soldiers Of Jesus Christ, march
ing on toward heaven, would that to-
dav, by some CLEAN from the palace of
Gods mercy and Gods strength, you
might be lifted into great rejoicing, and
that before this service is ended you
might raise one glad hosanna to the Lord
In the first place, commend the behav-
Tor of these disciples to all those In this
audience who are sinful and unpardoned.
There comes time in almost every
mans history when he feels from some
source that he has an erring nature. The
thought may not have such heft as to fell
him. 1t may be only like the flash in an
evening cloud Just after very hot sum-
mer day. One man, to get rid Of that i'm
preston, will go to prayer; another will
stimulate himself by ardent spirits, and
another man will dive deeper in seculari-
ties. But sometimes man can not get
rid of these impressions. The fact is,
when man finds out that his eternity is
poised upon perfect uncertainty, and
that the next moment his foot may slip,
he must do some thing violent to make
himself forget whore he stands, or else
fly for refuge. ..".
To relax the grip of death from your
soul, and plant your unshackled feet
upon the golden throne, Christ let the
tortures of the bloody mount transfix
him. With the beam of his own cross he
will break down the door of your own
dungeon. From the thorns of his own
crown he will pick enough gems to make
your brow blaze with eternal victory In
every tear on his wet cheek, in every cash
Of his side, in every long, blackening
mark of laceration from shoulder to
shoulder, in the grave-shattering, heav-
en-storming death groan, hear him
say:
Him that cometh unto me will in no wise
cast out.
1t is folly for you to say to some one:
'Oh," but you say, "lnstead Of curing
my wound you want to make another
hot Of yinfi
Again, commend the behavior of the
disciples to all who are tempted. have
heard men in mid life say they had never
been led into tenn ptation. If you have not
felt temptation it is because you have not
tried to do right A man hoppled and
handcuffed, as long as he lies quietly,
does not test the power of the Oh ain; but
when he rises up, and with determination
resolves to snap the handcuff or break
the hopple, then he finds the power Of the
iron. And there are men who have been
for ten, and twenty, and thirty years
bound hand and foot by evil habits who
have never felt the power of the chain,
because they have never tried to break it.
1t is very easy to 60 on down with the
stream and with the wind, lying on your
oars; but just turn around and try to go
against the wind and the tide, and you
will find it is a different matter. AS long
as we go down the current OF our habit
we seem to get along quite smoothly; but
if after awhile we turn around and mead
the other way, toward Christ, and par
don, and Heaven, oh, then how we have
to lay to the oars! You all have your
temptation. You have one kind, you an
other, not one person escaping. tits
steady
al could not be tempted as you are"
The lion thinks il is SO strange that the
fish should be caught with hook. The
fish thinks it is SO strange that the lion
should be caught with q trap. You see
some man with cold, phlegmatic tenn
tUerament. and you say: